1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ballistic missile defense systems that use an interceptor to boost one or more Kill Vehicles (KVs) onto a ballistic intercept trajectory to intercept a ballistic missile and the KV's own sense capability and propulsion to autonomously select a target and maneuver to impact, and more particularly to a method of strategic engagement that uses long-range communications between KVs boosted from different interceptors to transmit back observed sensor data and processed mission data from leading KVs to inform target selection and improve the efficacy of follower KVs.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) as currently fielded is the only available defense system the United States has against long range Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The GMDS has a single type of Ground Based Interceptor (GBI), with the payload being the Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV). Each has a single kinetic-energy based warhead i.e., a KV, that is, boosted on an interceptor. The KV is designed to destroy a target via the kinetic energy upon impact.
The system takes input from a series of forward sensors including radars and satellites, and responds to a detected incoming threat by developing the data needed to launch interceptors at it. The individual KVs launched each perform the same mission, where the KV has to acquire the incoming threat booster and whatever components have come free from it (shrouds, adapters, debris, a warhead, and possibly countermeasures, for example), and use direct observations to discriminate between the warhead and functionally inert pieces of the missile. The KV is aided by additional data sent from the ground in flight to provide the latest available radar observations on the threat object, now termed a target cloud after payload separation. In-flight and post-boost phase Communications Events (CE) include those transmitted from the ground station, and those transmitted from the KV.
The KV takes the available ground data and combines its own infrared (IR) observations, and picks the target to intercept based on existing onboard algorithms. Each KV fired at an approaching target cloud prosecutes its mission as though it were the only intercept attempt being made. Each KV acts “autonomously”, making the final target selection and engagement decisions on its own albeit using data from other sources.
Because the current firing doctrine requires a large number of GBIs to be launched to achieve the requisite Probability of Engagement Success (Pes) against any one target cloud, and the limited ready GBI inventory, the GMD element can only engage a limited number of targets. Additional BMDS limitations include the number of GBIs in the ready inventory and the number of In-Flight Interceptor Communications System (IFICS) sites able to send and receive data from KVs in flight at one time.
The Multiple Kill Vehicle was a planned U.S. missile defense system designed to deploy multiple small kinetic energy-based warheads (MKEWs) from a single booster that can intercept and destroy multiple ballistic missiles. The MKEWs were configured for short-range communications with the CV and amongst themselves to manage the threat engagement. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,494,090 and 7,494,089. The MKV program was terminated in 2009.